Disney Journeys

Is my child too young?

Over the years, I’ve often been asked this key question:

when is a child old enough to go to Walt Disney World???

I believe that no one is too young or too old for Walt Disney World.

However, I personally felt comfortable waiting until our child had just turned two to embark on our first trip to WDW as a family. Many factors went into this decision including that our son was born 3 months premature and was at risk for at least those first two years for illness and developmental delays. I caution each parent that there is no definite answer and that each family needs to decide what time works best for the family factoring in age, budget, time constraints, health issues and more.

Is it more difficult touring a park with a 2 year old rather than a 12 year old? Of course.

Take note, however that the magical moments far outweigh the hardships. Yes, you’ll need to plan for time back at the resort to nap and recuperate from the parks each and every day of your visit. Yet, taking this time allows the entire family to rest. Mom and Dad can take turns touring the resort during the child’s nap. Often, we also took a nap during this reprieve. Our 2 year old at the Magic Kingdom was tired even after his nap:

In addition, it is true that your child is likely to love the resort pool. They may talk about it even more than any attraction or parade in the Magic Kingdom. A trip to WDW is about taking time with your family to slow down and soak up the magic.

Touring WDW with our two year old forced us to slow down. We didn’t see everything but we enjoyed our vacation much more due to the slower pace.

Many parents are concerned that a young child will not remember the trip.

Your 2-year old will likely not remember the trip. Our son, Nicolas, was 2 on his first WDW trip, so we reminisce with pictures and video. I am thankful for that vacation. It’s the only time where the monorail was called “ the Disney choo choo”.

Depending on your child’s ride tolerance, you’ll be able to ride boats and a train, fly with Peter Pan and Dumbo, bounce with Winnie the Pooh, go on a safari, watch parades, enjoy shows and burn off steam at playgrounds.

Looking through treasured photos, I see my child meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time at Chef Mickey’s. He was too busy meeting new friends to eat dinner. 

Waking up at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, he stepped on the balcony and said “wow” as he pointed out the “horsees”.

We journeyed through Small World with Nicolas teething.  I’ll never have that moment again when he gave Minnie a hug and called her “Ninnie”. 

The playground in Toontown Fair was worthy of an “oh, wow”. And really, shouldn't you take a person to WDW that can fit in this little house?

It’s the simple moments that only small children delight in that make us slow down. Throwing pennies in to Cinderella’s fountain,

getting Tiggerific hugs from a bouncy friend,

playing quietly in the sand at the Wilderness Lodge,

stopping in the Magic Kingdom to look at ducks and hugging the bear on the wooden totem pole at the Wilderness Lodge.

The Tomorrowland Speedway is still a favorite but, my 10-year old doesn’t have the same wide-eyed awe sparkling back at me while in a race car.

You may do some attractions over and over such as Dumbo but as they grow older you’ll be racing from Space Mountain to Thunder Mountain. Savor the slower pace.

Yes there were challenges. Diaper changes, teething, fear of loud noises and of the dark and temper tantrums.  While you may not be experiencing as many rides, you’ll delight in the moments that parents of older children would do anything to repeat.  Including watching a child fall fast asleep exhausted after a magical day....before the sun goes down.

A young child's curiosity will lead to discoveries in the most unusual places. My son found the ducks swimming near the Liberty Belle riverboat to be as fascinating as the cruise around the river. Restful areas found in the Baby Care Centers will offer TVs playing Disney films.

Some children love the characters and others are slower to warm up to the furry friends. We took our under 2 year old son many times to HersheyPark to introduce him slowly to characters before our first WDW trip. I think our plan worked:

Consider a character meal and seat timid children at a secure spot where they can just wave to the characters visiting the table.

At the Animal Kingdom, visit animals, play in the Boneyard, go on Safari and take a ride on Triceratops Spin.

I feel fortunate that our family toured WDW while our son was so young.

You'll all grow from the experience of traveling to WDW together. Your child may look at you in delight for acting like a child while wearing your own set of Mickey Ears!

So many people tell me they are waiting to take their child to WDW until they are old enough to remember the experience. Frankly, I went at age 11 and it's a faded memory. Do we wait to celebrate birthdays and holidays until those precious brains can hold on to the memory for life? No. We celebrate and travel and venture to parks so that we as parents have lasting memories. We also do all of these things so that we have cherished time together. Life is so busy and slowing down to hug a Pooh Bear is a wonderful thing!

The time our family spends traveling (including our magical moments at WDW) has always brought us closer together.

Does my son remember his first trip at age 2 to WDW? No. Does he enjoy looking at the pictures and watching the videos? Absolutely. He also loves to snuggle and hear stories about what we did on that early visit. He finds it amusing that he called the monorail the "Disney choo choo". As his Mom, I would have been sad to have missed out on watching the "world" through his young, magical eyes. Now we don't ride Dumbo as much as we race to Space Mountain. Those earlier years were precious for our family.

I suggest you give the magic a try!

Here are just a few attractions that your child might enjoy:

Magic Kingdom -
Peter Pan
Small World
Dumbo
Pooh
Buzz Lightyear
Tomorrowland Speedway
Magic Carpets
Jungle Cruise
Tom Sawyer's Island
Parade and fireworks

Epcot-
Nemo
Journey into Imagination
Visiting characters in World Showcase and Future World

Hollywood Studios-
Muppets
Little Mermaid
Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area
Toy Story Mania
Block Party Bash parade

Animal Kingdom-
Triceratop Spin
Boneyard
Lion King
Nemo musical

Camp Minnie Mickey greeting trails, Safari and the parade.

Here's Nic on Kilimanjaro Safari seated with is Grandpa:

and so much more! There are Mickey ice cream bars, resort activities such as movies on a beach, dinner shows, meals with Disney characters, fireworks in the sky, boat rides, balloons, smiles, hugs and best of all, magical memories.

Now that my son is battling Darth Vader in the Jedi Training Academy and bypassing Dumbo for Thunder Mountain, I treasure our memories of our earlier trips. And our family, including Nic's grandparents, fondly reminisce about his first walk down Main Street, U.S.A.

Is your family thinking about embarking on your first vacation

to the Happiest Place on Earth?

There are fantastical deals released for resort rooms and packages (resort room, tickets, etc) that include the summer months.

Email me at kimberly@enchanteddestinations.net for a no obligation price quote. Never a fee for booking. And, I'll even help you plan your daily itinerary to stay one step ahead of the crowds. The most rewarding part of my journey at the WDW Moms Panel was helping families discover the magic of WDW. The most rewarding part of working as an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner is discovering the best resort and prices for my clients as well as offering them itinerary assistance so that they get the most out of their vacation dollars.

Bidding for Bargains

In several years, I've only had one less than wonderful experience with Priceline. I received a hotel that was clearly not the star rating that was assigned by Priceline. Had I researched more, I would not have selected that particular area to place my bid.

Otherwise, I've had many successful bidding experiences using Priceline. Most recently, I used Priceline for a last minute trip to Atlanta, GA for my husband's business conference.

I bid $31 after carefully researching via betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com. My bid for our last 2 nights was accepted. With tax our total stay was $78.48 at the Marriott Atlanta Norcross hotel. Even better, when we checked it the Manager told us we were being placed in Concierge!

Our first two nights were spent in a different Atlanta hotel which I also won on Priceline. The staff at the Marriott Atlanta Northwest were very nice. The bed was divine. However our room had a minor ant problem. I had read about this issue in a TripAdvisor.com review and sure enough it held true. Unfortunately, those 2 nights were $102 total. But they were in a location that was more convenient for our first two days in the area.

For Orlando travelers, I once pricelined a hotel for our WDW arrival night. $27 landed us at a nice resort-like hotel. It certainly was just fine for a night's sleep. While staying on WDW property definitely immerses a family in 24-hour magic, a family on a strict budget might consider a Priceline accommodation for their Orlando visit.

I've had success with Priceline when bidding on hotels for many areas including the Philadelphia area, Washington D.C. and even in San Diego, California.

If your family needs a rock bottom bargain, give Priceline a try.